Zero
by CMDR-Lane
Summary: After nine years lost in the Delta Quadrant, Starfleet finds the abandoned Voyager at their doorstep. The ship is empty, by human definition. Upon prolonged contact however, it seems that something survived.
1. Chapter 1

**Note From the Author-**

_Hello loyal readers. Some, if not all, of you are probably slightly (very) irritated at me for my very infrequent updates on my many unfinished stories. _

_  
And yet again, here I start another. I am putting my others on the back burner for a while to focus on this new one. It's slightly out of my style, and much darker than my normal, but like all experiments it will either work or fail horribly._

_It takes place somewhere in season seven, and erases the 'endgame' timeline. _

_Either way, be prepared for something wild. Be prepared to go where no human has gone before. _

**Prologue  
Delta Quadrant**

Tom Paris felt the burn as the energy weapon sizzled through the fabric of his uniform and scrape his skin.

_"Son of a bitch!" _He screamed through his clenched teeth, as he ducked down behind the bend in the corridor. Tuvok pulled him from behind, and glanced at his wound.

"It is superficial. Try to ignore it." Was the Vulcan response. The lights flickered overhead as the ship rocked violently. They were in position outside the main double doors of the _Voyager_ engine room. "Tuvok to bridge, we are pinned down. Requesting assistance."

--

_"Tuvok to bridge, we are pinned down. Requesting assistance." _The comm channel crackled overhead. Janeway glared up at the flickering viewscreen. She could barely make out the alien ship that sensors were tracking. Just moments before, a plasma explosion behind the science station had vaporized the one person standing at the console… Commander Chakotay. She had watched the burning plasma scorch through his skin. He had fallen down on the floor and flopped around screaming as the hot pasma disintegrated his organs. Moments later it was over, nothing left but a burnt through corpse. That image was all Kathryn Janeway could see in her mind.

"_Repeat, we are pinned down!"_ She could hear the stress in Tuvoks voice, for he was on the verge of breaking. She, on the other hand, just snapped. She stood slowly, and braced herself when _Voyager_ shuttered below her feet. She glanced up at Harry, with an odd calm in her voice.

"How many of them?"

"I'm reading thirty-seven. Correction, Forty-two. Captain, they are beaming in by the masses…"

"Computer, flood cargo bay one with Nyocene gas and lock its doors."

-_Nyocene gas is…_

"Override." She cut the mechanical voice off. The captain looked around her shattered bridge, then back up to Ensign Kim. "Beam them all into cargo bay one."

"What?" His young face had a heart-stricken expression on it.

"I gave you an order, ensign." She said, rage still building in her chest. She walked up to his station, and threw him out of the way.

"We can find another way!" Seven said, as she started towards the ops station. "They won't last a minute in there!"

Janeway took her hands off the console as she watched the screen below her hands.

TRANSPORT IN PROGRESS…TRANSPORT COMPLETE.

"That's the god damn point." She replied cold and stern. The bridge officers were silent as she walked back down to her chair. "Hail them."

Harry drifted back to his panel with a glazed look in his eyes. "Line open."

"Duvorex vessel, your boarding party is dead. I suggest if you-" She stopped when the comm line was cut off. There was a massive explosion on the viewscreen as the Duvorex ship was enveloped in flames. Janeway shot out of her seat.

"Something struck them from behind!" Seven blurted from her station.

"What the hell was it?" Janeway asked.

"Unknown, but…" Seven stopped when her sensor panel revealed something from her past. "Species zero zero zero." She said softly, with terror in her voice.

**Chapter One**

**Two Years Later**

"Federation Starship _Zodiac_ requesting docking clearance." Lieutenant Perry Highland said over his computer panel on the bridge.

_"Starbase Four clears you for docking in upper ring six. Welcome home, _Zodiac._"_

Perry turned up to his captain and first officer. "Civilization here we come!"

Captain Lucas Yardale grinned ear to ear, as he glanced at his first officer Darren Henderson, and back down to Perry Highland.

"Are you saying we aren't civilized?" Captain Yardale asked him, still grinning. Perry returned his silly grin and stood up from his station.

"Not saying that at all. But after a year with you losers, my heart bleeds for that!" He walked in front of the main view screen, which was showing their approaching view of the massive Starbase and the beautiful planet behind it. The space doors had parted, and the nav lights were welcoming them in. "I mean look at her!"

Henderson leaned over to Yardale. "Looks like we have a mutiny on our hands, sir."

"I know! Thank god we are so close to help!" He replied. They both chuckled.

"I hate to break up your big joke over there…" Sabrina Williams, the _Zodiac_ communications officer, spoke up and then trailed off, listening to her earpiece.

"Commander?" Captain Yardale swiveled his chair in her direction.

"Sir, subspace traffic just quadrupled. Something big just happened, it's hard to make out." The bridge fell silent, as the _Zodiac_ continued to slip into the docking bay on automation. "Starfleet command is hailing us."

The light air in the room thickened as the viewer switched from an exterior view of the Starbase to a Fleet Admiral. Captain Yardale stood, and approached the viewer.

"Fleet Admiral Clemmins."

"Lucas Yardale, its good to see you back in our neck of the woods."

"Its good to be back…" He could already see the uneasy expression on the Admirals face.

"Let me cut right to it, old friend. About an hour ago, long-range sensors detected some very unusual readings seven lightyears from Starbase Four. Now we are not sure what caused them, but what we do know is that a ship just appeared out of nowhere."

"What kind of unusual readings? And what ship?" Yardale asked, as he crossed his arms.

"Sensors cannot make heads or tails out of the strange power signature that spiked. However long range scans indicate the ship is one of our own. Its _Voyager."_

The Captain raised his eyebrows. "Come again?"

"You heard me correctly. The Federation Starship _Voyager, _lost in the Delta Quadrant for nine years, just appeared on our doorstep."

"Good God! Are there any survivors? Have you sent out a rescue team?"

"The situation is as follows. Whatever brought them here increased the rad levels in that sector by near two hundred percent. We had to wait a while for them to dissipate before we can send a ship in. I don't have a good feeling about it. We aren't getting any life readings and all our hails have gone unanswered."

"Elevated rad levels can interfere with sensors." Darren Henderson stood from his chair. "We need to get a ship out there ASAP."

"I know. That's why I'm called. If you reinforce your shields, and inoculate your crew, I believe you can survive the radiation. Starfleet wants you at _Voyagers_ side as soon as you can get there."

"Read you loud and clear."

"God speed. Starfleet out." The viewer blanked out, as the captain turned to his crew.

"Shore leave has just been postponed. Yardale to medical bay, prepare for radiation victims."

"Acknowledged."

"Helm, cancel docking procedures. As soon as we are clear of Starbase Four, lay in a course for _Voyager_… maximum warp." He sat down in his chair, and took a deep breath.

The chic _Infinity_-class _Zodiac_ broke away from the Starbase and rocketed foreword into warp speed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The Bridge of the _Zodiac_ was silent as the crew watched the main viewscreen. Moments before, Perry Highland had announced they were in visual range.

They were now staring at the beaten and bruised hull of the Starship _Voyager_.

"It looks strange." Sabrina said from her post. "Although I can't place what's wrong."

The broken vessel floated aimlessly through space.

"Full analysis people, lets find out what happened here." Captain Yardale said. He turned over to Highland. "How are we on radiation?"

"The shields are getting a good workout, but we are fine. Sensors show rad levels are slowly tapering off."

"Good."

"Helm, slow to impulse. Keep us at a safe distance." Commander Henderson said.

The _Zodiac _slowed elegantly to sub-light speed, and held a safe distance from _Voyager_.

"Sensor analysis ready." Perry said from his post.

"Lets hear it." The captain replied.

"All power is offline, seems like it's been that way a long time. Sensors indicate it's as cold in there as it is in space."

"Damnit." Captain Yardale muttered. "What about her life boats?"

"All accounted for." Came the response he didn't want to hear. "Her warp core is damaged, I'm showing some heavy scarring in the engine room, although I can't get a better scan than that. The hull is beat to hell and she's got multiple breaches on all sections. What the…?" He stopped.

"What is it?" The Captain stood and walked over to Perry's post.

"Sensors are picking up life readings. I'm showing one hundred and seventy two distinct life forms on that ship."

"What the hell?" Darren Henderson looked at the readout.

"Hail them!" The captain pointed to Sabrina.

"Your up."  
"This is Captain Lucas Yardale of the Federation Starship _Zodiac_, is anyone receiving this?"

The communication line remained silent.

--

An audible _sizzle-snap_ was heard from within the shuttlecraft _Arizona_ as it left the containing forcefield of the _Zodiac_ shuttle bay. Inside it sat a restless trio.

"Keep an eye on our radiation levels." Commander Henderson asked from the helm position over his shoulder to Lieutenant Highland.

"I've had my eye on it ever since we got in the sector." Came the reply. "How are you holding up?" He directed his question towards Sabrina Williams.

She was sweating, and had a death grip on her console. "I hate shuttles." She replied softly. "I'll be fine when we dock with _Voyager._"

Henderson cracked a smile as he punched a few commands into his panel. "You are the only person I know who is scared of shuttles."

"I know, me too."

"Prepare for docking. I'm going to put us on her starboard airlock, since the shuttlebay is without power. Why don't you two suit up?"

"Roger that." Highland replied.

--

The airlock crunched slightly, and scraped open. The away team walked forward, and out of the gravity field of the _Arizona. _

"Turn your gravity boots on." Henderson said as he reached to his arm and pressed a button on his suit. One by one, the team was sucked to the floor plating.

Williams shone her light to the left, as Highland shone his to the right. Their flashlights cut through the pitch-dark corridor, revealing nothing. Commander Henderson walked forward to the blank system panel on the wall. He tapped it, and it remained blank.

"Lieutenant, hand me your power pack." He leaned over, and took it from her. The panel painfully flickered on. Williams and Highland came back to his side and looked at the panel. "This thing is worthless, it looks like most of the ships computer grid is damaged." He took the power pack and gave it back to Williams. They opened their tricorders, and started towards the bridge.

"Commander, I'm getting some strange readings on my tricorder. It looks like it might be a singularity." Highland said, as they continued the slow walk towards a turbolift.

"I see it. I'm also getting intermittent life readings, although the tricorder can't pinpoint any of them." Commander Henderson replied.

"Nothing human could live in zero-atmosphere." Williams said softly. Henderson glanced at her.

"I know."

--

After floating up the turboshaft a few moments, they pried the bridge doors open.

"Damn, it's a mess in here." Highland said as he walked slowly down the steps, dodging debris and fallen beams.

"Williams, go to the OPS station and see if you can get anything online." Henderson pointed across the bridge. He stepped down, and shone his light at the ruptured science station. "Plasma conduit must have blown. I hope nobody-" He stopped as he shined his light down on the floor. "Damnit."

Highland turned around and looked down. On the floor was a burnt body, fused into the deck plating. "Poor bastard." He whispered.

"Commander, the battery packs are still charged. Do you want me to bring primary systems online?" Williams asked from up above.

"Do it." He replied. A moment later the bridge lit up, and the few functioning panels activated. "See if you two can access the ships logs. I'm going to check the ready room." Commander Henderson walked slowly past the science station, and up to the captains ready room door.

Highland watched the door slide shut behind his first officer, and then he sat down at the helm station. "All right Sabrina lets see what we can find out."

"I've restored partial power." She replied to him. "You should have computer access as soon as the system boots up."

He swiveled his chair around to face her. "Do you think she's got enough power to bring emergency containment fields up and restore atmosphere?"

"Let me check." She worked the panel for a moment. "I think I have the power, let me try."

A few moments later, they heard the snap of a forcefield activating.

"There must have been a breach on this deck." Highland said as he looked around. Fog started pouring out of the vents on the bridge.

"We have atmosphere…" She started, "…and now we have heat. You can take your helmet off."

They unclipped the latches on the helmets, and slid them off.

"Commander Henderson, we have atmosphere. You can take your helmet off if you want." Perry said into the comm system built into the suit. Sabrina looked up at him when they were met with silence. "Highland to Henderson, respond." Still nothing.

Williams started walking down to him, and they both converged upon the ready room door.

It slid open slowly, and they walked in.

"Commander?" Sabrina asked, as they approached his space suit. He was facing away from them staring at the floating chair behind the desk.

The room was in the same shape as the rest of the ship. Miscellaneous items floating through the air, burnt carpeting, and debris littered the room.

"Commander, are you okay?" Perry followed her. They walked around in front of him to see his face. His helmet was still on, and he had a blank stare in his eyes. "Commander Henderson?" Perry Highland said sternly and loudly. He was unresponsive.

Williams took her tricorder and ran it over his chest.

"Christ, he's not breathing! Williams to _Zodiac_, emergency transport us to the medical bay!" She yelled into her suit communicator. They huddled together, and felt the cold embrace of the transporter beam fill them from inside. Perry immediately realized that something was wrong by the way it felt, and the burning sensation all throughout his body when the beam hit. They screamed in pain, as the transport continued. Their voices became digitized, and eventually disappeared with their bodies in the blue light. The starship _Voyager_ loomed empty and silent once again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Perry Highland moaned slightly, as he rolled over on his back. It didn't take him long to realize that he was not where he should be The space suit was uncomfortable to lie in, so he grunted and tried to right himself. Every muscle in his body ached severely. After he finally sat up, he leaned against the corridor wall and looked around. The curved hallway had debris in the carpet, broken wall plating, and flickering lights that were barely hanging on to emergency power. He was somewhere on _Voyager._

"Highland to _Zodiac._" He muttered quietly, for it hurt to talk. He was met with silence. "Highland to Henderson, Williams." Still nothing.

"Damnit." Perry said under his breath. Moments later after abandoning the suit, he looked down at his uniform. The threading had burn marks in it. "That's weird." He remarked. After inspecting his surroundings for a moment, he noticed a computer panel on the wall around the corner. He limped towards it, and pressed the corner of the display. The screen lit up bright. "Computer, access internal sensors." The panel beeped. "Scan the ship for lifeforms."

-_Sensor resolution is below twenty percent. Subprocessors 645 through 1428 are unresponsive. _

"Show me what you can." He replied. The screen flashed, and a diagram of the ship appeared. It was scattered with green dots. "Display this deck." The screen zoomed and panned, and displayed a green dot right where he was standing. He was surrounded by three other green dots. When he saw it, he twirled around quickly. The corridor was empty.

Perry shook his head, remembering that the system said the scans could be inaccurate. He started to walk away from the panel when he noticed the red text on the top.

_EMERGENCY POWER LEVELS: THIRTY TWO PERCENT_

_EMERGENCY CONTAINMENT FIELD FAILURE IN TWELEVE MINUTES_

Suddenly realizing he was in trouble without his space suit helmet, he remembered the _Arizona_. He tapped his comm badge quickly. "Highland to _Arizona."_ He breathed a sigh of relief when the computer responded.

"_Federation Shuttlecraft _Arizona_ computer system responding." _

"Lock on to my signal and beam me aboard." He held his breath and crossed his fingers as the transporter beam swept over him. This time, it felt normal.

A few moments later, Perry materialized on the transporter pad of the small shuttle. He took a quick step toward the helm, and crashed into the chair. "Computer, hail the _Zodiac._" His voice was still ragged from the transporter accident. He ached everywhere.

-_No response. _The computer stated after a few moments.

"See if you can locate Henderson and Williams on _Voyager._"

-_Standby, initiating scan._ While the computer was busy with that, he accessed the sensor array. A moment later, the _Zodiac _appeared on the readout. "Well at least you are still there." He muttered.

-_Scan complete. There are no life forms present on _Voyager.

He looked up, puzzled. "Alright, detach from the _Voyager_ airlock, and lay in a course for the _Zodiac."_ He stood up and walked toward the back of the shuttle. He felt the shuttle break the dock under his feet.

-_Course laid in. _

"Three quarters impulse power. Engage."

The shuttlecraft made a soft _thud_ as it landed in the shuttlebay. After walking out of the hatch, he took off towards the double door. He glanced up at the control booth and noticed there were no officers at the post. He took a left in the corridor and directed his voice upward.

"Highland to bridge." He was met with silence. He shook his head, and continued towards the turbolift in the empty corridor. "Main bridge."

The lift shot up, and he backed against the wall and looked himself over. His uniform was charred, and he had faint burn marks on his skin, although none of them hurt. He mainly ached internally, which concerned him. When the _Zodiac_ tried to transport him over something must have gone wrong and they aborted. That, however, didn't explain were the crew was now.

The doors parted onto the bridge. He walked out of the lift and looked around. The room was deserted. There was no sign of a struggle or damage, and all the panels were lit up bright. The main viewscreen was displaying the drifting _Voyager._

"Where the hell is everybody?" He muttered as he looked around the room. "Computer, shipwide. This is Lieutenant Perry Highland, is there anybody on board? Respond." The bridge remained silent except for the miscellanies beeps and chirps of the room. He suddenly doubled over from a sharp pain in his stomach.

Perry hit the floor in pain, and rolled over gripping his midsection. "_Fuck!" _ He lay there for a moment, trying to decide his next move. It was hard to think through the searing pain in his stomach. "Computer!" He hissed through his teeth. "Send an emergency distress call to Starfleet Command!"

-_Distress signal activated. _

"Beam me to-" he stopped when he remembered the effect of the _Zodiac's_ presumably damaged transporter system. "Belay that. Highland to _Arizona_, lock onto my signal and beam me to the _Zodiac_ sickbay. Energize!"

The transporter released him, and he looked around the room quick enough to know he was alone. "Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram!" He barely heard the holoemitters spark when he blacked out.

"Rise and shine, Lieutenant." Perry opened his eyes and cussed under his breath. He noticed Captain Yardale, Commander Henderson and Commander Williams where standing over him. He bolted up, as Doctor Jarred Dupree walked around the corner.

"Take it easy Lieutenant." He said, as he took the sensor out of his medical tricorder and started to scan him.

"Wha… what happened?" Perry stammered, the fog still clearing from his head.

"You three were pulled through a forcefield." The captain replied with concern.

"Apparently when we activated the containment fields on _Voyager_, one of them interfered with out emergency beam out. The _Zodiac _pulled us straight through it. Doctor Dupree says we are lucky to be alive." Sabrina replied to him.

"But I was on _Voyager. _The transport failed and I was put back on _Voyager. _I had to bring the _Arizona_ back… ship was deserted… and sent a distress call to Starfleet…" Perry said softly. Captain Yardale and Doctor Dupree glanced at each other.

"He's delusional." The doctor said quickly.

"Am not… I'm fine. I'm telling you I was still on that ship!" He started to get up when a hypospray was pressed up to his neck. "Son of a bitch! I'm fine…" He trailed off and fell back to the bed.

The four officers stood around him, looking down at his unconscious body.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Sabrina Williams was seeing stars. She was bent over on the floor, her face ground in the carpet. Her teeth were clenched tight and she was trying hard not to scream. The transporter malfunction felt as if it had ripped her internal organs out of her body through the pores in her skin... she could not begin to explain the pain she was experiencing. After a few minutes of controlled breathing she finally willed herself to a crouching position. She looked to her left and then to her right and came to the conclusion that she was still aboard the _Voyager. _

"Williams to _Zodiac_... what happened?" She whispered into her badge as she attempted to stand up. She was met with silence. Reaching up to tap her badge again, she noticed her hand had charred marks on it. She quickly inspected her body and realized she was covered. The transporter malfunction must have been worse than she thought... and then the thought crossed her mind that she was probably bleeding internally. "Computer, where is sickbay?"

_"Current level, four doors from your present location." _The system responded sluggishly.

"Thats convenient." Sabrina muttered as she started in a limp down the hall. She entered the room and looked around for an emergency medical kit... then she thought of something better. "Computer, is this ship equipped with an EMH?"

"_Affirmative." _

"Thank God. Activate it." She crashed down onto the main bio bed. She looked up when an EMH Mark I initialized in front of her.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." He asked as he snatched a tricorder. He frowned slightly as he looked her over. "Who are you?" He asked as he begin to scan her.

_What an odd question for an EMH to ask._ Sabrina thought. "I'm part of a rescue team aboard your ship."

"Rescue team?" The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "You are wearing a Starfleet uniform! Are we back in the Alpha Quadrant?!" He stopped talking when he consulted his tricorder. "Oh my you need surgery right now."

"What... what's wrong?" Sabrina asked as she sat up.

The Doctor pushed her back down on the bed. "You have massive internal damage to most of your organs and you are bleeding internally. What happened to you?" He asked as he ran around the room gathering supplies. "And what happened to the crew of _Voyager?" _

"I'm the survivor of a transporter accident apparently." She muttered. "Look, I need to get back to the _Aerios_, it's holding position right here in this sector. Our sickbay would be better suited-"

The Doctor cut her off as he prepared a hypospray. "You wont live long enough to make it back there unless I do emergency surgery on you right now." He started to press the hypo to her neck when Sabrina realized something and bolted up to stop him.

"This ship is running on emergency battery power alone... I don't know how much longer the power will hold out! I would hate for you to be operating on me when the power-" She stopped and her heart sank when the EMH fizzled out of existence. All but a few lights deactivated, and the computer screens went blank.

_"Warning, emergency reserve power is almost depleted. Emergency containment fields will fail in five minutes. All systems except life support have been deactivated." _

"God damn it." She muttered to herself. The clock was racing against her and she had no idea what to do. "Sabrina to _Zodiac_, please come in!" She said quickly into her badge. She was met with an empty response. "Sabrina to anyone on this ship… _please_ respond!"

The comm system remained silent. Sabrina came to the quick conclusion that if she was going to survive at all she needed to get to engineering and fast. She knew however that it was several decks away and there was no way she could make it in her current condition. "Computer, enable emergency site-to-site transporters and beam me to engineering."

The thought crossed her mind that she was in no way healthy enough to undergo a transport – however she didn't see much other option. Sabrina closed her eyes and took a deep breath in when the blue light started to shimmer around her. A moment later she opened her eyes and exhaled. She was standing in the brightly illuminated engine room of the _Voyager. _She gasped as she stared straight ahead… the warp core casing had shattered and there appeared to be some form of self-contained energy field right in the heart of it.

The bright red light rippled as she stared at it – almost taunting her to come closer. The scientist in her knew better though, for she sidestepped to a panel and picked up a tricorder. She flipped it open and glanced at the readout. On the other side of the energy field was a completely different oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. The energy field seemed to be a portal to another location.

"_Warning, emergency reserve power has been depleted. Emergency containment fields will fail in sixty seconds." _

Sabrina gripped the tricorder tight and started walking forward towards the bright light. She suddenly heard the doors swish open behind her.

_"Stop!" _Someone yelled as she turned around quickly. She was staring face to face with Commander Darren Henderson.

--

Perry Highland woke up slowly. He could feel the groggyness lifting from his head as he squinted his eyes open. He was lying on the main biobed in the _Zodiac _sickbay. With a quick glance around him he could tell that he was alone… and he sensed a strange feeling around the room. It was dead silent around him – so quiet that he could hear his ears buzz. He stood up slowly and looked down at himself – he was standing in his underwear. "What the hell?" He muttered as he looked down at his near naked body.

"Ah your awake!" A voice said from around the corner. Perry jumped with surprise when the EMH walked into sight.

"Good lord you scared me half to death." He put his hand over his heart and felt it pumping fast.

"Sorry. You need to replicate some new clothes, I had to cut yours off of you and perform emergency surgery. You had massive damage to seventy-percent of your internal organs." The EMH replied.

"How long was I out?" Perry said quietly as he walked over to the replicator.

"You have been asleep for the past twelve hours." The EMH replied as he watched Perry clothe himself.

"Oh shit. Do you know what happened to the crew?" He asked as he clipped his comm badge on the new uniform.

"I was hoping you could tell me," the EMH started his reply as he ran a tricorder around Perrys head. "After the surgery was complete I tried to contact the bridge with no luck – you have a clean bill of health now, Mister Highland. You are free to leave sickbay."

"Thanks for patching me up. Computer deactivate EMH." Perry watched as the hologram fizzled out of existence. He walked out of the medical bay and took a left. He tapped his badge. "Highland to anyone on board, please respond." For some reason the empty response didn't surprise him. He entered the turbolift on the right and glanced up at the voice receptor as he spoke. "Deck nineteen – weapons locker."


End file.
